UPDATE!!!

Originally posted by BrApple:
definately check the bushing if you have the 4 bolt arms as they are going to be shot...



well, I'm pleased to report that your diagnosis was correct, apple. the forward bushings on both control arms had so much lateral play in them, you wouldn't believe it. i certainly didn't.

i purchased new arms and hardware and did the job yesterday. i spent about 4 hours on them, taking my time. for those interested, i spent $310 for both arms and hardware, shipped, from steve at tousley. not bad.

also, i've noticed quite a bit of debate lately regarding the best approach for replacing these bad boys. for what it's worth, here's what i was able to do (4-bolt type):

passenger side:

each bolt has easy access for removal and installation, except one - the sucker under the shaft bootie. i sawed the head off this one to remove it, but was able to muscle the new one in the correct way (bolt head on top) without damaging the bootie.

it helped significantly here to have a second person pushing the knuckle assembly rearward to gain another few fractions of an inch of clearance on the bolt hole.

driver side:

basically the same story. i've heard some folks sawing the bolt(s) under the tranny, but this wasn't necessary for me. a nice sized prybar did the trick here. pry the tranny out of the way just enough to slip the bolt(s) out. this worked for both forward bushing bolts.

again, i sawed the sucker under the shaft bootie. on this side, however, i gained just enough clearance on the bolt hole for installation by having a second person shove the knuckle assembly FORWARD. the bolt will rub against the bootie quite a bit on the way in, but it's possible to do without damaging the bootie.

so all bolts were able to be installed correctly. thanks to everyone for all the good background info on this topic. helped me tremendously, as these forums always do.